If you know me at all, I am enamoured by candid photography (and of course, candid wedding photography!). Most of the time you will find me with my camera glued to my hands or face. Here are some tips to help you get some great candid wedding photography shots:

1. Be invisible
Never speak to your subjects, boss them around or give them instructions… always remain quiet and blend into the background as much as possible.

2. No flash!
I’m a complete flash hater, but the point remains – the moment you use flash people will instantly become aware of your presence.

3. Use telephoto lenses
By using telephoto lenses you are able to become invisible without your subject noticing, any lens that goes up to 200-300mm is ideal.

4. Have your camera settings set – use a large aperture.
If you already have your camera settings ready, you will be able to shoot away. Ideally have your aperture set to f6 or 8 which should enable you to have lots of your subject in focus.

5. Take lots of pictures
This kind of goes without saying but the more pictures you take, the more likely you are to get a great shot. You can potentially put your camera on burst mode which will help, but make sure you have lots of spare memory cards as this will hog memory like no tomorrow.

6. Have minimum equipment on you:
To summarise: The less bulky you are (and the less equipment you are carrying) the less likely you are to be noticed.

7. Move away when noticed then come back
If you point your camera at a subject and they notice you, a good technique is to move away pretend you have your shot then come back when they are distracted again.

8. Anticipate the moment and position
You will get much better at this with time, but always try to anticipate the moment before it happens and be ready.

9. Photograph groups
Photographing groups of people talking is the perfect opportunity, firstly your subjects are distracted, but it also will create an interesting dynamic for your images.

 

All photographs by me – candidweddingphotography.co.uk

2 Replies to “9 Candid Wedding Photography Tips”
  1. I did much wedding photography years ago, my boss restarted with black and white and used hot flash bulbs. Patrons were usually very important. I started with Graflex XL with portrait 220 roll film, powerful flash, heavy battery, and mostly candies. Many stories. 8 x 10s were snap shots. Usually pre set distances so I didn’t lose a shot with time lost focusing. An excellent camera for speed and silence was the Rolleiflex, I don’t think I could use most digital cameras for the needed speed.

    • Pardon the many errors of the OS, for example, “candies” was typed “candids,” “restarted” was typed “started,” etc.

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